Progressive Working Families Party gives its line to Cuomo after trashing him for months

ALBANY — After trashing Gov. Cuomo for months, the progressive Working Families Party on Wednesday agreed to move actress Cynthia Nixon off its gubernatorial line and reluctantly give its backing to the governor.

The party previously had nominated Nixon over Cuomo, who it had said wasn’t liberal enough.

But after the governor easily defeated her in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary, the Working Families Party—in an emotional vote Wednesday—decided to go with Cuomo as the Nov. 6 general election draws near.

Cuomo hasn’t said if he will accept the line, though Working Families Party members and some close to Cuomo say they expect he will.

Nixon, if Cuomo accepts the line, would be moved to the Working Families Party line in the Manhattan district belonging to longtime Assemblywoman Deborah Glick.

The party also made a switch on the lieutenant governor line. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would replace Jumaane Williams, the city councilman who will be shifted to a WFP line in the district of Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn).

The governor has until Friday to accept the line.

Showing lingering distrust, the party set the Friday deadline for Cuomo and Hochul so it is not caught without a candidate. Nixon and Williams have until Tuesday to accept the move to different lines.

A Siena College poll released Monday showed Cuomo leading Molinaro among likely voters 50% to 28% with Nixon getting 10% on the Working Families Party line.

The Cuomo campaign declined comment on whether he will accept the line.

Those Working Families Party committee members who favored backing Cuomo said it’s time to move on after he defeated Nixon and that they didn’t want to potentially play spoiler for Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro.

“This election is about Donald Trump,” said one party committee member during the debate. “This election is about our democracy and voters want unity. They want a blue wave and they want all engines going.”

Another said the party will only have to put up with Cuomo for another four years or “until he is indicted.”

Those who still wanted to shun the governor for Nixon said they don’t trust he will look out for the party’s progressive interests.

One Cuomo critic during the debate said that the party was founded to “stand up to bullies” and to “stand up to corporate Democrats.”

“Support our values and vote ‘no’ to Andrew Cuomo,” the committee member said.

Party co-chairwoman Karen Scharff told the group that Nixon and Williams have repeatedly told leadership since their primary losses that they would prefer not to be on the line.

Longtime liberal activist Bertha Lewis was seeking the line Wednesday if Nixon was going to decline it.

“I am asking this party to please, please vote your values,” Lewis said. “I am running because we were not prepared. We had no plan B even though we knew that Jumaane and Cynthia might decline.”

Cuomo has run with the Working Families Party backing in 2010 and 2014, though the relationship between the two has been frosty. In 2014, the party was set to back Fordham Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout until Mayor de Blasio helped broker a deal that many party members said the governor reneged on.

If he accepts the line, it means that he and Hochul will appear on the Democratic, Working Families Party, the Independence Party, and the Women’s Equality Party lines.

Molinaro will be on the Republican, Conservative and Reform Party lines.

The WFP needs at least 50,000 votes on the gubernatorial line in November to guarantee a spot on the ballot the next four years.

Williams, who showed up to the meeting, urged party members—even those who are against Cuomo—to vote for him on the WFP line to ensure its continued existence.

“We stood up, we fought back and we shook them up,” said Williams, who received more than 640,000 votes in the primary. “I came here to support whatever this party decided to do because I believe in the party.”

Nixon did not attend the meeting. In a statement release afterward, she said she would “cede” the line to Cuomo, if he takes it ,“as we continue to work to make New York and our country more progressive.”

“We will continue to focus on ending Republican control of the State Senate and electing progressive candidates across the board, and on taking back the US Congress,” Nixon said.

WFP state director Bill Lipton said even though the move to Cuomo was not ideal, the party can take solace in victories in the primary that did away with six of eight Democrats who until April were aligned with the Republicans.

He said the focus moving forward will be to help the Democrats capture the state Senate so they can pass progressive legislation.

“We need to see the long arc,” Lipton said after the vote. “I see a vision for this party over the new year that is so powerful.”